Probably the most shocking numbers that I've seen throughout the year is the Cy Young-caliber season that Mike Mussina has put together. Now granted, this has been helped by Barry Bonds and his bloated OBP have been ignored throughout the season by every team in the game (which is especially puzzling, considering that once Jason Giambi started producing, Yankees fans welcomed him back with open arms) But hey, that's the world we live in right?.

But Mussina is having a truly great year. He earned his 15th win Thursday night, and currently has a 3.44 ERA. Now, the interesting thing is to look at why Mussina has experienced more success this year. The Hardball Times dove into this today - and their results are very interesting. They contend that because Mussina has lowered his BB/9 (from 2.1 to 1.3) and raised his K/9 (2.6 to 4.7), he has experienced a great deal of success.  There's more to the argument, which is worth checking out. Specifically, THT talks about the role the Yankees' infield defense has had on Mussina's performance over the last two years.

Average user rating

   (0 vote)